You throw the ball. You catch the ball. You hit the ball…Of course, baseball fans know that this line from Bull Durham is far from true, part of the humor of the movie and a huge part of the fun of the game. This blog is a space to talk about baseball, being a baseball fan, all of those things that make the game fun and the Angels, because they make baseball fun for me.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day + Bats, Injuries & the Countdown to Opening Day

May your batters be mighty, your pitchers’ aim true,
Your fielders successful in whatever they do,
May your rookies play well, and your veterans all shine,
Except, of course, for when your teams are playing mine. ;)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone out there in the ‘Sphere!

It is definitely spring in California! We have a couple more rainy days coming up in the forecast – and we still need that rain even after last month’s deluge, so no complaints here – but the temperatures are slowly trending upwards. With the occasionally 70s weather and the beginning of daylight saving time it’s finally starting to feel like Opening Day is less than two weeks away!

Catching snippets of games here and there – there hasn’t been an Angels game on TV since the 8th – I have been thrilled to see that our bats are continuing to wake up. I actually went to lunch on Tuesday just in time to catch that great 4th inning against the Padres. Torri homered. Vernon Wells homered off the very next pitch. (By the way, I like this one-upmanship, gentlemen. Please keep this up in the regular season.) Then Howie got a hit, Aybar struck out and Mark Trumbo homered again. Nice! And almost everyone else is hitting too. There are now a lot of averages at or over .300 and I am much happier.

Of course, I was not happy to see that the injury bug, which seems unusually prevalent this Spring Training, struck the Angels too. Scott Downs broke his big toe and will start the season on the DL and Mark Trumbo sat out part of today with groin tightness, though that move was only precautionary. Speaking of the DL, If Kendry Morales isn’t healthy enough to start playing in this week, he will start the season there as well. As much as I want him with the team for the whole season, I really want Kendry and the Angels to take this slow. March 20th, this Sunday, is his drop dead date, as we say in Marketing. If he can’t play in that game, he won’t be ready for Opening Day. He just started running base to base though and I don’t want him to play before his body can handle it. Suffice to say I’ll be listening to Sunday’s game with even more interest than usual – that one’s not televised either.

Even with the bad news, it’s hard not to be excited with the regular season just around the corner. And one week from Sunday, I get to go see live baseball! We have tickets to the exhibition game against the Padres at the Big A on the 27th and to Angels Fanfest that morning. Yes, Fanfest is back after a three year absence, and I am really looking forward to it. I’ve never actually been able to smell the grass from the stands, even from the front row, but the crack of the bat, the sound of the ball smacking leather? It’s. Almost. Time!

Kristen,
I know you will have fun at the Fanfest. You might see a couple of Dodger fans there looking for Mike Scioscia. No, not me. Last time I went to the Big A was for the All-Star game and prior to that was the interview to volunteer for the All-Star Fanfest.
Emmahttp://crzblue.mlblogs.com

Jeff – Thanks! Yeah, but your guys definitely caught the bug worse. It was good to see Wainwright looking so positive in his post surgery interview.
Jane – Oh definitely!
Emma – Yeah, I always expect to see Dodgers fans at the Big A and fellow Angels fans when I go to Dodger Stadium. There is rivalry there but it’s mostly a family kind of rivalry. I will probably make it to Dodger Stadium myself this season for some of the freeway series.
Sue – I agree. Where’s an exterminator when you need one? Thanks!
Catherine – Thanks, I’m glad you like it! It’s not really a prayer, per, se, it’s my stab at an Irish blessing which is more like a festive toast or well wishes. They concept could be religious or not depending on preference. They go back to more pagan traditions.
KristenThis is a very simple game…

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